MTN Disburses $592M in Loans via Digital Lending Unit BankTech
TLDR
- BankTech, the digital lending unit of MTN’s Mobile Money business, disbursed $592 million in loans in Q1 2025
- The growth reflects rising demand for microloans and the increasing role of telecom operators in expanding credit access across Africa
- Nigeria, MTN’s largest market by users, is excluded from BankTech’s lending operations due to regulatory limits
BankTech, the digital lending unit of MTN’s Mobile Money business, disbursed $592 million in loans in Q1 2025, its highest quarterly total since launching in August 2023, according to MTN Group’s financial results.
The growth reflects rising demand for microloans and the increasing role of telecom operators in expanding credit access across Africa. BankTech operates as a banking-as-a-service (BaaS) platform, offering APIs that enable partners to integrate lending, savings, and insurance into their products. Loans are issued mainly to individuals and small businesses.
The top-performing markets in Q1 2025 were Ghana, Uganda, and Cameroon, where MTN has strong fintech penetration. Nigeria, MTN’s largest market by users, is excluded from BankTech’s lending operations due to regulatory limits under its Payment Service Bank (PSB) licence, which prohibits credit products.
In Nigeria, MTN relies on Xtratime, an airtime advance service. Though not a formal loan product, it plays a similar role for short-term needs. Xtratime helped drive a 57.9% YoY increase in MTN Nigeria’s fintech revenue to ₦36.1 billion in Q1 2025.
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Key Takeaways
BankTech’s Q1 surge underscores the growing role of telecoms in Africa’s underbanked credit landscape. Traditional banks have long struggled to serve informal workers and micro-entrepreneurs. Telcos, with their reach and user data, are stepping in. MTN joins peers like Safaricom and Airtel in scaling mobile-led lending, a market valued at $247 million and growing, as platforms seek to address Africa’s estimated $782 billion credit gap. MTN’s model allows it to serve users without full banking infrastructure, enabling faster onboarding and smaller-ticket loans. In markets with enabling regulation, such as Ghana and Uganda, the strategy is gaining traction. However, in Nigeria, progress has been slower. Regulatory hurdles remain a barrier to scaling BankTech’s full product suite. MTN’s alternative—Xtratime—demonstrates how telcos are still able to monetise lending-like services even without formal loan products.
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